Dead Inside

Chapter Thirteen I don't feel good

A hand lands on my shoulder and I look up to see Drew towering over me in the gloom. I slide my headphones back and gather up my things.

"You didn't even jump. Are you made of stone?" I just shrug in reply. "If I had of known you were sitting out here I would have got back sooner. I thought Max would have let you in." Drew passes me some plastics bags he is holding and fishes out his keys. "I bought dinner so hopefully that makes up for it."

"It was no problem. Don't stress." I follow him inside and place the bags on the counter. He reaches inside and hands me a plastic bowl full of soup. I lift the lid and a waft of lemongrass, lime, fish sauce and something else I can't put my finger on fills my nose. My mouth starts watering immediately.

"I hope you like Thai. It's my Monday-itis cure. I got you Tom Yum. If you don't like it we can swap. I got Pad Thai which probably a little safer in flavour but you look like you'd enjoy a –"

"Your rambling Mr Mason." I have never seen him flustered before. It's pretty funny to watch.

"Sorry." He scratches the back of his head and takes the chair at the breakfast bar beside mine.

"It's fine. I love Thai food. I haven't tries this soup but I'm sure I'll love it." I dip my spoon in and take a sip of the liquid. It's a beautiful combination of spicy and sour with all the flavours you'd expect in a Thai dish. "Oh wow that's amazing. Good choice Mr Mason."

"Drew remember. And it's one of my favs." We sit in a companionable silence for a while both just enjoying our food. As we finish off the last few bites of the meal I can practically feel the curiosity emanating from Drew. I know he wants to ask me about what happened on the weekend. He is trying really hard to be nonchalant about it and I am eternally grateful for that because it's much too embarrassing to talk about. I don't want to discuss my complete failure at being a functioning member of society. Not to mention the fact that I called him and practically begged him to help me. Before he loses the fight with his conscience I make the decision for him.

"Thanks for dinner. I'm going to go do my homework now. I'll see you in the morning." I gather our dishes and throw them in the bin before walking as fast as I can without looking suspicious to Max's old room. I close the door and lean against it for a moment before surveying the room.

My eye's fall on the stereo in the corner. I move over to it and plug my MP3 player in. Soon the sound of Corey Taylor's voice is filling the room. I move to the bed and dump my bag on it and sit cross legged in the middle. I grab out my notebooks and laying them out next to me. I survey them for a moment and am reaching for my physics one when my phone dings. I smile as I see that I have a new message from Riley.

Sup Rox? Sorry I was busy this weekend so we didn't get to chat. Not sure if your back with civilisation yet. Hope to hear from you soon.

Hey Riley. I'm good. Got back this morning then had to rush off to school. Sorry I didn't reply earlier. Nothing interesting happened on my end so fill me in on all the deets about this blind date you had. I feel bad for lying to him but I don't want him to worry about me any more than he already does. It's bad enough that Drew and probably Max knows.

Yay you're back. I was seriously starting to get withdrawals. She was a total airhead but relatively hot. A moment after the message arrives a picture pops up. It's a behind shot of a girl with her dress up over her head lent over the wash hand basin in what looks like a disabled toilet. In the reflection I can see Riley grinning with the phone in his hand and the girls face beneath the folds of her dress. She has her lower lip caught between her teeth and her eyes closed in ecstasy. She was pretty in a mainstream kind of way. Our parents were too busy chatting at dinner so I managed to coerce her into the toilets at the restaurant. Didn't even have to charm her very much.